Why do not-rhotic dialects of English exist? The r is there, why not pronounce it?
2006-08-23 09:21:56 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
'R'...the sexiest letter in the alphabet!
2006-08-23 09:23:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why does any dialect of any language exist?
It happens that I like the sounded "r" as in the Scottish pronunciation of words like floor and star, but that's only an aesthetic preference and not a value judgment.
In any case English is not spelled phonetically, so the presence or absence of any letter in any position is no guide to how the word is pronounced. Look at this set of words featuring -ough:
tough, though, thought, through, trough, bough
where the letters -ough are pronouced differently in each case. And to add to the confusion, in not one of them do you hear any sound of "g" or "h". Those sounds may have been there once, but languages develop and in the case of English, the spelling hasn't yet caught up with the sounds actually spoken.
2006-08-24 13:28:21 · answer #2 · answered by Dramafreak 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you yourself said, it is non-rhotic. I don't know the linguistic reason why, but some dialects of English are rhotic (General American English, Southern English, Irish English), and others are not (Received Pronunciation, New Yorker English, Bostonian English), etc. It might have something to do with the Germanic language family, because I know that German is also a non-rhotic language ("Denker" properly pronounced "DENK-ah", not "DENK-ur")
2006-08-23 09:50:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Your question presumes there is a right way and a wrong way to pronounce the letter 'r' at the end of a word. :?
Living in New England, I could argue that I am pronouncing my "R's" and I am doing so using a local dialect, ergo it sounds like 'ah'.
We say: cah (car), stah (star), bah (bar)
We also say 'Vermahnt' (Vermont) and shahts (shorts) and supahmahket (supermarket) - thus obscuring that particular consonant in the middle of a word as well.'Pahk the cah in Havahd yahd' is the classic example often recited when this topic comes up. Just so you know: One cannot, ever, park a vehicle in Harvard Yard.
Hehehehe....well, I could muddy the pond and ask why people from a particularly large metropolitan area south of New England, (where a particularly irritating baseball team resides), elongate what should be a short 'o' sound, resulting in coffee sounding like cauw-fee. ;)
I guess the long and the short of it is: Habit.
2006-08-23 09:33:55 · answer #4 · answered by Dh. A 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Americans, Scots and people from the West Country pronounce the R at the ends of words. For the rest of the English speaking world, an R at the end of a syllable is a vowel modifier and not pronounced. You might as well ask why people don't pronounce the gh on the end of words.
2006-08-23 09:29:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The non-rhotic dialects of English are the correct ones, all the others have got it wrong...
2006-08-23 09:28:27 · answer #6 · answered by Darren R 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's just a characteristic of the accent. RP (received pronounciation) is a non rhotic accent but, on the other hand, you have the GA accent (general american), which is a rhotic one. In England you use several accents and each of them have different paterns. In Scotland, they use rolls and taps. In RP (used mostly by educated people in central London) you should never use them or you'll be "Cockney".
Regards!!!
2006-08-24 11:08:05 · answer #7 · answered by ferarevalo 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My R's roll like the Lothian countryside, while H's are as hollow as the Hollands I am from. You really don't want to know about my G's and CH's though mate. Though I am fine with the odd letter missing in words - some double T's for example often make for double entendres - I do agree if you mean 'va' should neva substitute 'er' at the end of any word. To err is afterall quintessentially British is it not?
2006-08-23 09:41:00 · answer #8 · answered by McAtterie 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
well i'm one of the people that don't say the 'r'
when i say the letter it comes out sounding like aaa
it's just the accent
believe me no one wud wanna talk like that on purpose coz sometimes it's hard 4 people 2 understand what u'r trying 2 say.
it's very annoying
i don't think anyone does it willingly
2006-08-24 22:21:05 · answer #9 · answered by vetwannabe 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
uffffffffffff i know tell me about it really i got that problem man i cant get why they do that there my brother he never say the word of r u know he think if not say it the english be sound like uas lol too silly
2006-08-23 09:40:44 · answer #10 · answered by Fit babe2007 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they Bastardise the English language, The Americans are the worst for it Lol.
2006-08-23 09:34:23 · answer #11 · answered by Osh Aka Oisinmagic 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋